Gamifying voice search experience for children

ABSTRACT

Implementations disclose gamifying voice search experience. A method includes receiving, by a user device, a user request to perform a search associated with an audio input and upon determining that the audio input for the search has not been provided during a first predefined time interval, displaying on a graphical user interface (GUI) of the user device, one or more GUI elements representing one or more audio prompts pertaining to the search. In response to an activation of one of the GUI elements within a second predefined time interval, an audio prompt corresponding to the activated GUI element is played. The method further includes receiving an audio response to the audio prompt, the audio response indicating a query for the search, and presenting, on the user device, a search result for the indicated query, the search result including one or more media items.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to the field of content searches and, inparticular, to gamifying a voice search experience for children.

BACKGROUND

On the Internet, social networks allow users to connect to and shareinformation with each other. Many social networks include a contentsharing aspect that allows users to upload, view, and share content,such as video content, image content, audio content, text content, andso on (which may be collectively referred to as “media items” or“content items”). Such media items may include audio clips, movie clips,TV clips, and music videos, as well as amateur content such as videoblogging, short original videos, pictures, photos, other multimediacontent, etc. Users may use computing devices (such as smart phones,cellular phones, laptop computers, desktop computers, netbooks, tabletcomputers) to use, play, and/or consume media items (e.g., watch digitalvideos, and/or listen to digital music).

SUMMARY

The following is a simplified summary of the disclosure in order toprovide a basic understanding of some aspects of the disclosure. Thissummary is not an extensive overview of the disclosure. It is intendedto neither identify key or critical elements of the disclosure, nordelineate any scope of the particular implementations of the disclosureor any scope of the claims. Its sole purpose is to present some conceptsof the disclosure in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detaileddescription that is presented later.

In an aspect of the disclosure, a method includes receiving, by aprocessing device of a user device, a user request to perform a searchassociated with an audio input. The method further includes displayingon a graphical user interface (GUI) of the user device, one or more GUIelements representing one or more audio prompts pertaining to the searchupon determining that the audio input for the search has not beenprovided during a first predefined time interval. The method furtherincludes playing an audio prompt corresponding to the activated GUIelement in response to an activation of one of the one or more GUIelements within a second predefined time interval. The method furtherincludes receiving, by the processing device, an audio response to theaudio prompt, the audio response indicating a query for the search andpresenting, on the user device, a search result for the indicated query,the search result comprising one or more media items.

In some implementations, the method also includes: in response to theactivation, displaying a visual prompt corresponding to the activatedGUI element, in addition to the playing of the audio prompt. In someimplementations, the one or more audio prompts are based on an age of auser of the user device. In some implementations, the one or more audioprompts are based on a location of the user device. In someimplementations, the one or more audio prompts are based on the searchhistory of a user of the user device. In some implementations, the oneor more audio prompts are based on a calendar time of the search. Insome implementations, the one of the one or more GUI elements isactivated when a user selects the GUI element.

In some implementations, the method also includes: automatically playingthe audio prompt corresponding to the activated GUI element responsiveto detecting that a user has not activated any of the one or more GUIelements within the second predefined time interval. In someimplementations, the method also includes: after playing the audioprompt, allowing the user to provide the audio response within a thirdtime interval without any manual interaction with the GUI. In someimplementations, each media item of the one or more media itemscomprised by the search result has a rating that indicatesappropriateness of a respective media item for children.

In another aspect of the disclosure, a method includes receiving, from auser device, an indication that an audio input for a search has not beenreceived during a predefined time interval. The method further includesdetermining, by a processing device, one or more search prompts specificto a user of the user device. The method further includes: providing theone or more search prompts specific to the user for presentation to theuser of the user device and receiving, from the user device, an answerto one of the one or more search prompts. The method further includes:searching, by the processing device, for one or more media items basedon the answer to the one of the one or more search prompts.

In some implementations, determining the one or more search promptsincludes: receiving an age of a user of the user device; and determiningthe one or more search prompts based on the age. In someimplementations, determining the one or more search prompts includes:determining at least one of: a location of the user device, a searchhistory of a user of the user device, or a calendar time of the search;and determining the one or more search prompts based on the location,the search history, or the calendar time of the search. In someimplementations, each media item of the one or more media items has arating that indicates appropriateness of a respective media item forchildren.

Computing devices for performing the operations of the above describedmethods and the various implementations described herein are disclosed.Computer-readable media that store instructions for performingoperations associated with the above described methods and the variousimplementations described herein are also disclosed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure is illustrated by way of example, and not by wayof limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary network architecturein which implementations of the present disclosure may be implemented.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for gamifying voicesearch, according to an implementation.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for identifying searchprompts for a gamified voice search, according to some implementations.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example gamified voice search user interfacecorresponding to a voice search activation stage, according to animplementation.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example gamified voice search user interfacecorresponding to a search prompt activation stage, according toimplementations of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates another example gamified voice search user interfacecorresponding to a search prompt activation stage, according toimplementations of the disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example gamified voice search user interfacecorresponding to a search query definition stage, according toimplementations of the disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating one implementation of a computersystem, according to an implementation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Aspects of the disclosure are directed to gamifying a voice searchexperience for children. In particular, implementations are describedfor providing a user interface that assists children with contentsearches using a game-like approach.

Existing search solutions rely on textual prompts to assist a user tosearch for relevant content. Such textual prompts do not aid youngchildren, who may not yet know how to read, with finding appropriatecontent. Voice search may be better suited for young children. However,voice search can be ineffective for children who are new to voice searchand do not know what to ask for when they try to access or use voicesearch features. In addition, children often pause when prompted tospeak, and sometimes get nervous and stutter, which leads to inaccuratevoice recognition and therefore inaccurate search results.

Aspects of the present disclosure transform content searching into agame-like experience that teaches young users how to search forinteresting content. In particular, aspects of the present disclosureprovide a graphical user interface (GUI) that includes a voice searchindicator visually illustrating a voice search option. When a userselects the voice search indicator in the GUI presented on the screen ofthe user device, one or more search prompt indicators can appear in theGUI. These search prompt indicators can be presented, for example, asbubbles floating around the screen of the user device. The bubbles maybe shown with a visual search indicator (e.g., a question mark) todemonstrate that they pertain to search queries.

If the user selects one of the bubbles (e.g., by clicking on it), acorresponding audio search prompt can be played for the user. A searchprompt can be a hint question that identifies a topic for a search. Forexample, the audio search prompt may be “What is your favorite animal?”If the user provides a voice response to such a prompt (e.g.,identifying a specific animal), a search can be performed based on theresponse, and the resulting content items (e.g., videos related to thespecific animal) can be presented to the user. In some implementations,once the user selects the bubble and provides a voice response to theaudio search prompt, no other user input is needed to initiate thesearch.

According to some aspects of the present disclosure, if a bubble is notselected within a threshold amount of time, the GUI may display a bubblepopping automatically, resulting in an audio prompt being played to theuser. For example, one of the bubbles can randomly pop after a 10-15second interval, and the user can hear a hint question (audio searchprompt) suggesting a topic for a search.

Audio search prompts played for the user (when selected or poppedautomatically) can be continuously changed to suggest new topics forcontent searches, thereby teaching young users about various things forwhich they can search through this game-like experience. In addition, insome implementations, audio search prompts can be customized for aspecific user. For example, an audio search prompt to be played can beselected for a user based on the age, location or search history of theuser, the current date/time, the user's demographics, the prior historyof prompts already posed to the user, etc. For example, users within acertain age range may be asked questions from a prompt list specific tothat age range. Users may be asked specific seasonal questions aroundthe holidays or during other calendar timing events. Users may be askedschool related questions during the school year, and “fun” questionsduring the summer. A prompt selection may be constantly refined for auser as search histories are updated to provide insight into the user'scontent preference.

Accordingly, aspects of the present disclosure provide a gamified voicesearch experience to assist young users with performing searchesspecifically tailored to the young users. As a result, children cansearch for and be presented with age-appropriate content selected from avery large number of content items (e.g., billions of videos).

The present disclosure often references videos for simplicity andbrevity. However, the teaching of the present disclosure are applied tomedia items generally and can be applied to various types of content ormedia items, including for example, video, audio, text, images, programinstructions, etc. The media items referred to herein represent viewableand/or shareable media items.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system architecture 100, in accordancewith one implementation of the disclosure. The system architecture 100includes a user device 110, a network 105, a data store 106, a contentsharing platform 120, and a server 130. In one implementation, network105 may include a public network (e.g., the Internet), a private network(e.g., a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN)), a wirednetwork (e.g., Ethernet network), a wireless network (e.g., an 802.11network or a Wi-Fi network), a cellular network (e.g., a Long TermEvolution (LTE) network), routers, hubs, switches, server computers,and/or a combination thereof. In one implementation, the data store 106may be a memory (e.g., random access memory), a cache, a drive (e.g., ahard drive), a flash drive, a database system, or another type ofcomponent or device capable of storing data. The data store 106 may alsoinclude multiple storage components (e.g., multiple drives or multipledatabases) that may also span multiple computing devices (e.g., multipleserver computers).

User devices 110 may include computing devices such as personalcomputers (PCs), laptops, mobile phones, smart phones, tablet computers,network connected televisions, netbook computers etc. The user device110 may include a media viewer 112. In one implementation, the mediaviewer 112 may be an application that allows a user to view content,such as images, videos, web pages, documents, etc. For example, themedia viewer 112 may be a web browser that can access, retrieve,present, and/or navigate content (e.g., web pages such as Hyper TextMarkup Language (HTML) pages, digital media items, etc.) served by a webserver. The media viewer 112 may render, display, and/or present thecontent (e.g., a web page, a media viewer) to a user. The media viewer112 may also display an embedded media player (e.g., a Flash® player oran HTML5 player) that is embedded in a web page (e.g., a web page thatmay provide information about a product sold by an online merchant). Inanother example, the media viewer 112 may be a standalone application (amobile application or “app”) that allows users to search for digitalmedia items (e.g., digital videos, digital images, electronic books,etc.) and can present a media player to play video and audio media itemsfor the user. According to aspects of the present disclosure, the mediaviewer 112 may be a children-specific application that allows users toview and search for content appropriate for children.

The media viewer 112 may be provided to the user device 110 by theserver 130 and/or content sharing platform 120. The media viewer 112 mayinclude a search interface 111 that allows a user to search for contenthosted by content sharing platform 120. The search interface 111 mayinclude a voice search indicator that can be selected to initiate avoice search option. The search interface 11 may also include other GUIelements that allow a user to interact with the gamified voice searchfeatures described herein. For example, search interface 111 may receivea user request to perform a voice search (a search associated with anaudio input). A user may activate a voice search indicator (e.g., byclicking on it) in search interface 111 and provide audio input toinitiate a voice search. If the audio input is received from the user,the audio input may be sent to content sharing platform 120 and/orserver 130 to undergo voice recognition operations to define a searchquery. Alternatively, voice recognition can be performed on the userdevice 110, and the resulting search query can be sent to contentsharing platform 120 and/or server 130.

If the audio input is not received within a certain time interval fromthe activation of the voice search indicator in the search interface111, one or more GUI elements representing one or more audible searchprompts (e.g., one or more bubbles with question marks inside) may bedisplayed by the search interface 111. The above time interval may be adefault time interval. In one implementation, a user is allowed tomodify the default setting of the time interval.

A GUI element (e.g., a bubble with a question mark) representing anaudio search prompt may be activated to cause the audio prompt to beplayed to a user, thereby aiding the user in searching for content ofinterest. A GUI element representing an audio search prompt may beactivated upon a user selection of the GUI element or upon an expirationof a specific time period from the appearance of the GUI element on thescreen, which can result in a visual indication of such aself-activation (e.g., by displaying an automated popping of thecorresponding bubble). Example audio search prompts can include, but arenot limited to:

-   -   What is your favorite animal?    -   What is your favorite video game?    -   What is your favorite sport?    -   What would you like to search for?

The audio search prompts being played can be specific to the user. Someaspects of the determination and selection of customized audio searchprompts for the user are discussed in more detail below.

In one implementation, when the user provides an audio response to theaudio search prompt, this audio response defining a search query isprovided (e.g., as audio data or text data resulting from voicerecognition) to content sharing platform 120 and/or server 130 toperform a search. For example, after the audio search prompt, “What isyour favorite animal?” is played to the user, the user may respond,“Giraffe!” In this case, the audio response “Giraffe” may be provided asthe search query. The content sharing platform 120 and/or server 130 maythen perform a search for media items relating to Giraffes, which canthen be returned to the user device 110 and presented to the user by themedia viewer 112.

In one implementation, the content sharing platform 120 may be one ormore computing devices (such as a rackmount server, a router computer, aserver computer, a personal computer, a mainframe computer, a laptopcomputer, a tablet computer, a network connected television, a desktopcomputer, etc.), data stores (e.g., hard disks, memories, databases),networks, software components, and/or hardware components that may beused to provide a user with access to media items and/or provide themedia items to the user. For example, the content sharing platform 120may allow a user to consume, upload, search for, approve of (“like”),dislike, and/or comment on media items. The content sharing platform 120may also include a website (e.g., a webpage) that may be used to providea user with access to the media items.

In implementations of the disclosure, a “user” may be represented as asingle individual. However, other implementations of the disclosureencompass a “user” being an entity controlled by a set of users and/oran automated source. For example, a set of individual users federated asa community in a social network may be considered a “user”. In anotherexample, an automated consumer may be an automated ingestion pipeline,such as a topic channel, of the content sharing platform 120.

The content sharing platform 120 may include media items 121. Examplesof a media item 121 can include, and are not limited to, digital video,digital movies, digital photos, digital music, website content, socialmedia updates, electronic books (e-books), electronic magazines, digitalnewspapers, digital audio books, electronic journals, web blogs, realsimple syndication (RSS) feeds, electronic comic books, softwareapplications, etc. In some implementations, media item 121 is alsoreferred to as a content item.

A media item 121 may be consumed via the Internet and/or via a mobiledevice application. For brevity and simplicity, an online video (alsohereinafter referred to as a video) is used as an example of a mediaitem 121 throughout this document. As used herein, “media,” “mediaitem,” “online media item,” “digital media,” “digital media item,”“content,” and “content item” can include an electronic file that can beexecuted or loaded using software, firmware or hardware configured topresent the digital media item to an entity. In one implementation, thecontent sharing platform 120 may store the media items 121 using thedata store 106. The content sharing platform 120 may also storeplaylists created by users, third parties or automatically. A playlistmay include a list of content items (e.g., videos) that can be played(e.g., streamed) in sequential or shuffled order on the content sharingplatform.

In one implementation, the server 130 may be one or more computingdevices (e.g., a rackmount server, a server computer, etc.). The server130 may be included in the content sharing platform 120 or be part of adifferent system. The server 130 may host a voice search system 140. Thevoice search system 140 enables the identification of audio searchprompts to help identify, curate, and present content appropriate forchildren, in implementations of the disclosure. Content appropriate forchildren may refer to one or more content items that are safe (e.g., notmature, violent or explicit) and/or relevant (e.g., entertaining orinteresting) for children.

The voice search system 140 may include several components (e.g.,modules, sub-modules, applications, etc.) that can be executed by one ormore processors of a machine hosting the voice search system 140. Thesecomponents may include, for example, a search prompt unit 160, an ageunit 162, a location unit 164, a time unit 165, and a search historyunit 166. More or less components can be included in the voice searchsystem 140 to provide functionality described herein.

In one implementation, search prompt unit 160 determines which audiosearch prompts to send to user device 110 for a gamified voice search.Audio search prompts may be sent to user device as audio data or textdata that can be converted to audio search prompts at the user device110. Prompts may be specifically determined on a per-user or per-devicebasis. Advantageously, customized prompts for users may allow for betterretention of those users within the content sharing platform and abetter game-like voice search experience for the user. Search promptunit 160 may utilize age unit 162 to determine appropriate prompts toprovide to a user, based on the user's age. Likewise, location unit 164may aid in determining appropriate prompts based on a user's location(or a location of the user device), and time unit 165 may help indetermining appropriate prompts based on a calendar time of the search.For example, if a search is performed during the school year, scholasticprompts may be determined to be more appropriate than leisurely prompts.Or, if the search is performed around the holidays, holiday-themedprompts may be determined to be appropriate. In one implementation,search history unit 168 may aid in the procurement of prompts based onthe search history of a user (or the search history associated with theuser device 110). For example, based on a user's search history, it maybe determined that the user enjoys content about a particular videogame. Search history unit 166 may identify other prompts related to thesame video game to provide to the user. The prompts may be compiled andstored in a database (e.g., a databased of data store 106), withrankings that represent the relevancy or appropriateness to a user. Inone implementation, the prompts may be stored on user device 110.

It should be noted that functions described in one implementation asbeing performed by the content sharing platform 120 can also beperformed on the user device 110 in other implementations, ifappropriate. In addition, the functionality attributed to a particularcomponent can be performed by different or multiple components operatingtogether. The content sharing platform 120 can also be accessed as aservice provided to other systems or devices through appropriateapplication programming interfaces, and thus is not limited to use inwebsites.

Although implementations of the disclosure are discussed in terms ofcontent sharing platforms and promoting social network sharing of acontent item on the content sharing platform, implementations may alsobe generally applied to any type of social network providing connectionsbetween users.

In situations in which the systems discussed here collect personalinformation about users, or may make use of personal information, theusers may be provided with an opportunity to control whether the contentsharing platform 120 collects user information (e.g., information abouta user's social network, social actions or activities, profession, auser's preferences, or a user's current location), or to control whetherand/or how to receive content from the content server that may be morerelevant to the user. In addition, certain data may be treated in one ormore ways before it is stored or used, so that personally identifiableinformation is removed. For example, a user's identity may be treated sothat no personally identifiable information can be determined for theuser, or a user's geographic location may be generalized where locationinformation is obtained (such as to a city, ZIP code, or state level),so that a particular location of a user cannot be determined. Thus, theuser may have control over how information is collected about the userand used by the content sharing platform 120.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for gamifying voicesearch, according to an implementation. The method 200 may be performedby processing logic that comprises hardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicatedlogic, programmable logic, microcode, etc.), software (e.g.,instructions run on a processing device to perform hardware simulation),or a combination thereof. In one embodiment, media viewer 112 on userdevice 110 performs method 200.

Referring to FIG. 2, at block 201, processing logic receives a userrequest to perform a search associated with an audio input. The userrequest may be a result of the user clicking on a GUI element (alsoreferred to as a voice search indicator) in search interface 111 on theuser device 110 that represents a voice search. In one embodiment, sucha voice search GUI element may be visually represented as a microphone,a person speaking, a question mark, or any other graphicalrepresentation of a voice search. From the time that the user activatesthe voice search GUI element, the user device may be actively listeningfor an audio input provided by the user for the voice search. At block202, processing logic determines whether the audio input defining asearch query has been provided during a first time interval. The firsttime interval may be predefined or customizable by a user. If the audioinput defining the search query is received within the first timeinterval, processing logic may request a search (e.g., by sending thesearch query to a server tasked with performing the search) based on thesearch query at block 209, and receive the results of the search fromthe server. At block 210, processing logic presents the search resultsincluding one or more media items on the user device 110.

Otherwise, if a search query was not received within the predefined timeinterval as determined at block 202, processing logic displays, in thesearch interface 111 on the user device 110, one or more GUI elementsrepresenting one or more audio voice prompts pertaining to the voicesearch at block 204. For example, processing logic may display GUIelements in the form of bubbles, floating around the screen of the userdevice 110. Each bubble may represent a single audio prompt thatcorresponds to a voice search. For example, one of the bubbles maycorrespond to the prompt “What is your favorite animal?”, and anotherbubble may represent the prompt “What is your favorite sport?” Inanother implementation, the individual GUI elements do not representpredefined audio search prompts, but are merely placeholders for audiosearch prompts. In this way, audio search prompts may be provided in aparticular order regardless of which GUI element the user activatesfirst.

At block 205, processing logic determines whether one of the GUIelements is selected by the user before a second predefined timeinterval has expired from the appearance of the GUI elements in thesearch interface 111. It should be noted that once the user request toperform the voice search is received from the user at block 201,processing logic may continue actively listening for audio input of theuser for a third time interval. The third time interval may bepredefined and/or customizable by a user. By listening for audio inputof the user even after the first predefined time interval expires andthe GUI elements representing prompts are displayed, processing logicallows the user to provide such an audio input at any time, without anyfurther manual interaction (e.g., via a touch input or keyboard input)with the search interface 111 on the user device.

If a GUI element is selected by the user before the second threshold oftime expires, processing logic plays an audio search promptcorresponding to the activated GUI element at block 206. As discussedabove, audio search prompts may be specific to a user. Thus, the userhas a unique and customized gamified voice search experience tailoredspecifically to assist the user in performing voice search.

If none of the GUI elements displayed at block 204 is selected withinthe second predefined time interval, processing logic automatically(without any user interaction) activates a GUI element at block 207,such as by visually illustrating an automated popping of a correspondingbubble. In one implementation, processing logic may determine which GUIelement should be automatically activated in a random(non-deterministic) manner. In another implementation, processing logicmay determine which GUI element should be automatically activated basedon rankings of associated audio search prompts. For example, if five GUIelements are displayed, representing five audio search prompts,processing logic may activate the GUI element corresponding to the audiosearch prompt associated with a topic that is most likely to be ofinterest to the user. Audio search prompts may be ranked according toany number of attributes, including, but not limited to, predictedinterest to the user, frequency of appearance (i.e. how many times thisaudio search prompt has been provided to the user before), etc.

Once a GUI element is automatically activated at block 207, method 200continues to block 206 where the audio voice prompt corresponding to theactivated GUI element is played, as discussed above.

At block 208, processing logic receives audio input of the user inresponse to the audio voice prompt. The audio input provided by the userdefines a query for the search. In one implementation, the audio inputis a direct response to the question posed by the audio search prompt.For example, audio input of “Giraffe!” may be received as an answer tothe audio search prompt “What is your favorite animal?” In anotherembodiment, the audio input may not be a logical answer to the questionposed by the audio search prompt. For example, in response to theprompt, “What is your favorite animal?” the audio input may be“Baseball!” In such a case, the audio input “Baseball!” may still beused to define the query for the search, even though it does notdirectly answer the provided prompt. At block 209, processing logic mayrequest a search (e.g., by sending the search query to a server taskedwith performing the search) based on the search query at block 208 andreceive the results of the search from the server. At block 210,processing logic presents the search results including one or more mediaitems. The media items may be presented by media viewer 112 on the userdevice 110.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for identifying searchprompts for a gamified voice search, according to some implementations.The method 300 may be performed by processing logic that compriseshardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicated logic, programmable logic,microcode, etc.), software (e.g., instructions run on a processingdevice to perform hardware simulation), or a combination thereof. In oneembodiment, voice search system 140 of FIG. 1 performs method 300.

Referring to FIG. 3, at block 302, processing logic receives, from auser device (e.g., user device 110 of FIG. 1), an indication that anaudio input for a voice search has not been received during a predefinedtime interval. At block 304, processing logic determines one or moresearch prompts specific to a user of the user device. Determining searchprompts may involve determining rankings of stored search prompts basedon one or more characteristics including, for example, an age of theuser, location of the user (or user device), seasonable timing of thesearch, the search history of the user, etc. Characteristics like thoselisted above may be combined (e.g., in a machine learning algorithm) todetermine an ordered list of prompts specifically tailored to aparticular user. The ranking of prompts may change as the underlyingcharacteristics change. Furthermore, new prompts may be continuallydetermined based on updated user characteristics.

At block 306, processing logic may provide the one or more searchprompts specific to the user for playing to the user of the user device.In one implementation, prompts are provided one at a time, or several ata time, to be played on-demand on the user device. In otherimplementations, prompts may be provided for storage on the user device.

At block 308, processing logic receives, from the user device, a searchquery based on audio input provided by the user in response to one ofthe search prompts, and at block 310, processing logic searches for oneor more media items based on the search query, and returns the searchresult to the user device.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example gamified voice search user interface 400corresponding to a voice search activation stage, according to animplementation. The gamified voice search interface 400 may be presentedon a user device and may include a GUI element 402 that represents avoice search initiation. If activated by a user, voice search GUIelement 402 may initiate a voice search option. In some implementations,GUI element 402 may depict a microphone, a person speaking, or othergraphical representation of a voice search. Once activated, GUI element402 may be transformed in some way (e.g., it may be animated by pulsing,bouncing, changing colors etc.) to indicate that a microphone iscurrently activated and that listening for a voice search query hasstarted.

The gamified voice search interface 400 may also include one or more GUIelements 404 that represent audio search prompts. GUI elements 404 maydepict a question mark (as shown) or some other graphical representationof a search prompt. In one implementation, GUI elements 404 areanimated, floating around on the screen of the user device. GUI elements404 may collide with and bounce off of each other and off of other GUIelements (e.g., GUI element 402). The gamified voice search interface400 may also include a GUI element 406 that when activated, allows auser to enter a textual search mode. A user may also activate a GUIelement 408 to go back to a previous screen of the application providingthe gamified voice search interface 400.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example gamified voice search user interface 500corresponding to a search prompt activation stage, according toimplementations of the disclosure. The gamified voice search interface500 includes a representation 502 of an activated GUI element 404 ofFIG. 4 that is animated in response to the activation (caused by userselection or automated activation as described above). For example, GUIelements 404 may “pop” and/or display “waves” extending outward, 502.Interface 500 may also display a search prompt 504 in textual form. Thesearch prompt 504 may also be played as an audio prompt (e.g., for youngusers who cannot read or otherwise understand the textual prompt). Thesearch prompt 504 may be displayed in textual form at substantially thesame time as the audio prompt is playing.

FIG. 6 illustrates another example gamified voice search user interface600 corresponding to a search prompt activation stage, according toimplementations of the disclosure. As seen in the gamified voice searchinterface 600, an activated GUI element of FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 iscontinuing its animation by expanding outwards to indicate that it wasactivated. The gamified voice search interface 600 displays full text ofsearch prompt 604. In one implementation, the audio prompt associatedwith the textual search prompt 604 completes its play when the textualsearch prompt 604 finishes its progressive, animated display.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example gamified voice search user interface 700corresponding to a search query definition stage, according toimplementations of the disclosure. The gamified voice search interface700 demonstrates a search prompt 702, which can visually indicate that aresponse to the search prompt 702 has been received. In oneimplementation, the search prompt 702 is displayed in a faded color or adifferent color when a response is received. The response may bereceived as audio input, and may be shown in textual form 704 on thegamified search interface 700 (e.g., at substantially the same time as auser is providing the audio response).

FIG. 8 illustrates a diagrammatic representation of a machine in theexemplary form of a computer system 800 within which a set ofinstructions, for causing the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein, may be executed. In alternativeimplementations, the machine may be connected (e.g., networked) to othermachines in a local area network (LAN), an intranet, an extranet, or theInternet. The machine may operate in the capacity of a server or aclient machine in a client-server network environment, or as a peermachine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. Themachine may be a personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a networkconnected television, a set-top box (STB), a Personal Digital Assistant(PDA), a cellular telephone, a web appliance, a server, a networkrouter, switch or bridge, or any machine capable of executing a set ofinstructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be takenby that machine. Further, while only a single machine is illustrated,the term “machine” shall also be taken to include any collection ofmachines that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets)of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein. In one implementation, computer system 800 may berepresentative of a server, such as server 102, executing a voice searchsystem 140, as described with respect to FIGS. 1-7.

The exemplary computer system 800 includes a processing device 802, amain memory 804 (e.g., read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, dynamicrandom access memory (DRAM) (such as synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) or RambusDRAM (RDRAM), etc.), a static memory 806 (e.g., flash memory, staticrandom access memory (SRAM), etc.), and a data storage device 818, whichcommunicate with each other via a bus 808. Any of the signals providedover various buses described herein may be time multiplexed with othersignals and provided over one or more common buses. Additionally, theinterconnection between circuit components or blocks may be shown asbuses or as single signal lines. Each of the buses may alternatively beone or more single signal lines and each of the single signal lines mayalternatively be buses.

Processing device 802 represents one or more general-purpose processingdevices such as a microprocessor, central processing unit, or the like.More particularly, the processing device may be complex instruction setcomputing (CISC) microprocessor, reduced instruction set computer (RISC)microprocessor, very long instruction word (VLIW) microprocessor, orprocessor implementing other instruction sets, or processorsimplementing a combination of instruction sets. Processing device 802may also be one or more special-purpose processing devices such as anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmablegate array (FPGA), a digital signal processor (DSP), network processor,or the like. The processing device 802 is configured to executeprocessing logic 826 for performing the operations and steps discussedherein.

The computer system 800 may further include a network interface device822. The computer system 800 also may include a video display unit 810(e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a cathode ray tube (CRT)), analphanumeric input device 812 (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor controldevice 814 (e.g., a mouse), and a signal generation device 820 (e.g., aspeaker).

The data storage device 818 may include a computer-readable storagemedium 824 (also referred to as a machine-readable storage medium), onwhich is stored one or more set of instructions 826 (e.g., software)embodying any one or more of the methodologies of functions describedherein. The instructions 826 may also reside, completely or at leastpartially, within the main memory 804 and/or within the processingdevice 802 during execution thereof by the computer system 800; the mainmemory 804 and the processing device 802 also constitutingmachine-readable storage media. The instructions 826 may further betransmitted or received over a network 874 via the network interfacedevice 822.

The computer-readable storage medium 824 may also be used to storeinstructions to perform a method for identifying content appropriate forchildren algorithmically without human interaction, as described herein.While the computer-readable storage medium 824 is shown in an exemplaryimplementation to be a single medium, the term “machine-readable storagemedium” should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media(e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated cachesand servers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. Amachine-readable medium includes any mechanism for storing informationin a form (e.g., software, processing application) readable by a machine(e.g., a computer). The machine-readable medium may include, but is notlimited to, magnetic storage medium (e.g., floppy diskette); opticalstorage medium (e.g., CD-ROM); magneto-optical storage medium; read-onlymemory (ROM); random-access memory (RAM); erasable programmable memory(e.g., EPROM and EEPROM); flash memory; or another type of mediumsuitable for storing electronic instructions.

The preceding description sets forth numerous specific details such asexamples of specific systems, components, methods, and so forth, inorder to provide a good understanding of several implementations of thepresent disclosure. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art,however, that at least some implementations of the present disclosuremay be practiced without these specific details. In other instances,well-known components or methods are not described in detail or arepresented in simple block diagram format in order to avoid unnecessarilyobscuring the present disclosure. Thus, the specific details set forthare merely exemplary. Particular implementations may vary from theseexemplary details and still be contemplated to be within the scope ofthe present disclosure.

Reference throughout this specification to “one implementation” or “animplementation” means that a particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic described in connection with the implementation isincluded in at least one implementation. Thus, the appearances of thephrase “in one implementation” or “in an implementation” in variousplaces throughout this specification are not necessarily all referringto the same implementation. In addition, the term “or” is intended tomean an inclusive “or” rather than an exclusive “or.”

Although the operations of the methods herein are shown and described ina particular order, the order of the operations of each method may bealtered so that certain operations may be performed in an inverse orderor so that certain operation may be performed, at least in part,concurrently with other operations. In another implementation,instructions or sub-operations of distinct operations may be in anintermittent and/or alternating manner.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, by a processingdevice, a request to initiate a search associated with an audio input;determining that the audio input associated with the search is absentduring a first predefined time interval; providing for display aplurality of graphical user interface elements that represent aplurality of audio prompts pertaining to the search; in response todetermining that there is no user selection of the graphical userinterface elements during a second predefined time interval, activatingone of the graphical user interface elements based on a ranking of theplurality of audio prompts; playing an audio prompt of the activatedgraphical user interface element, wherein the audio prompt comprises aquestion and is played prior to receiving audio input associated withthe search; receiving, by the processing device, the audio input inresponse to the audio prompt, the audio input providing data for thesearch; and providing for presentation, by the processing device, asearch result for the search, wherein the search result comprises one ormore media items.
 2. The method of claim 1 further comprising: inresponse to the activation, displaying a visual prompt corresponding tothe activated graphical user interface element, in addition to theplaying of the audio prompt.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein theplurality of audio prompts are based on an age of a user.
 4. The methodof claim 1 wherein the plurality of audio prompts are based on alocation of a user device.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein theplurality of audio prompts are based on a search history of a user. 6.The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of audio prompts are basedon a calendar time of the search.
 7. The method of claim 1 wherein thegraphical user interface elements comprise a second graphical userinterface element that is activated when a user selects the secondgraphical user interface element.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein theactivated graphical user interface element is automatically activated inresponse to detecting an absence of user input during the secondpredefined time interval.
 9. The method of claim 1 further comprising:after playing the audio prompt, allowing the user to provide the audioinput within a third time interval without any manual interaction with agraphical user interface.
 10. The method of claim 1 further comprisingdetermining one or more audio prompts that are specific to a user,wherein determining the one or more audio prompts comprises: receivingan age of the user; and determining the one or more audio prompts basedon the age.
 11. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining oneor more audio prompts that are specific to a user, wherein determiningthe one or more audio prompts comprises: determining at least one of: alocation of a device of the user, a search history of the user, or acalendar time of the search; and determining the one or more audioprompts based on the location, the search history, or the calendar timeof the search.
 12. The method of claim 1 wherein each media item of theone or more media items has a rating that indicates appropriateness of arespective media item for children.
 13. A system comprising: a memory;and a processing device coupled to the memory, wherein the processingdevice is to: receive a request to initiate a search associated with anaudio input; determine that the audio input associated with the searchis absent during a first predefined time interval; provide for display aplurality of graphical user interface elements that represent aplurality of audio prompts pertaining to the search; responsive todetermining that there is no user selection of the graphical userinterface elements during a second predefined time interval, activateone of the graphical user interface elements based on a ranking of theplurality of audio prompts; playing an audio prompt of the activatedgraphical user interface element, wherein the audio prompt comprises aquestion and is played prior to receiving audio input associate with thesearch; receiving the audio input in response to the audio prompt, theaudio input providing data for the search; and providing forpresentation a search result for the search, wherein the search resultcomprises one or more media items.
 14. The system of claim 13, whereinthe plurality of audio prompts are based on an age of a user of a userdevice comprising the processing device.
 15. The system of claim 13,wherein the plurality of audio prompts are based on a location of a userdevice.
 16. The system of claim 13, wherein the plurality of audioprompts are based on a search history of a user.
 17. The system of claim13, wherein the plurality of audio prompts are based on a calendar timeof the search.
 18. The system of claim 13, wherein the graphical userinterface elements comprise a second graphical user interface elementthat is activated when a user clicks on the second graphical userinterface element.
 19. A non-transitory machine-readable storage mediumstoring instructions which, when executed, cause a processing device to:receive a request to initiate a search associated with an audio input;determine that the audio input associated with the search is absentduring a first predefined time interval; providing for display aplurality of graphical user interface elements that represent aplurality of audio prompts pertaining to the search; in response todetermining that there is no user selection of the graphical userinterface elements during a second predefined time interval, activatingone of the graphical user interface elements based on a ranking of theplurality of audio prompts; playing an audio prompt of the activatedgraphical user interface element, wherein the audio prompt comprises aquestion and is played prior to receiving audio input associated withthe search; receiving the audio input in response to the audio prompt,the audio input providing data for the search; and providing forpresentation, on the user device, a search result for the search,wherein the search result comprises one or more media items.
 20. Thenon-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 19, furthercomprising: in response to the activation, displaying a visual promptcorresponding to the activated graphical user interface element, inaddition to the playing of the audio prompt.
 21. The non-transitorymachine-readable storage medium of claim 19, further comprising:activating the graphical user interface element responsive to detectingan absence of user input during the second predefined time interval. 22.The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 19, furthercomprising: after playing the audio prompt, receiving the audio inputwithin a third time interval without any manual interaction with agraphical user interface.
 23. The non-transitory machine-readablestorage medium of claim 19, wherein each media item of the one or moremedia items is associated with a rating that indicates appropriatenessfor children.